


Pyrophobia

by mattaretto



Series: Phobias [2]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 11:25:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17042843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mattaretto/pseuds/mattaretto
Summary: Gifted with fire from a young age, but tragically surrounded by it, you’ve become afraid of it because of it’s lasting effects and despite your abilities.





	Pyrophobia

When she was little, she discovered something about her that was different from everyone else. At the time, she didn't know how, but she was able to spark a fire whenever she wanted. As she learned to control it, it fascinated her. Like everyone else, emotions can sometimes grip someone and take hold, warping decisions. 

That's exactly what happened when she was 13 and her parents got into a fight. She was terrified and let her emotions best her, her surroundings rupturing into flames.

By the time the fire crews arrived, her parents were already gone. They never were able to explain how the fire started, or why only she had survived, but she knew. The fire haunted her for the rest of her life, making her fearful of its wild character. The nature of the fire seized the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D, and so she was taken in, adopted by one of the agents and trained. 

 

Years later she joined an elite team for her fighting and stealth abilities the Avengers. Her team didn't know of her powers or her fear, and she prefers to keep it that way. 

"Pack your bags, we're going on vacation!" Tony exclaimed one day, strolling into the common room casually. 

"Where are we going?" Sam asked, briefly looking away from the TV screen to look at Tony. He was playing Mario Kart with Thor, Clint, and Peter, everyone else watching and holding bets. 

"That, my friend, is a surprise," Tony replied, grinning slightly.

"We've got to know what to pack for, Stark." She retorted, looking at the man.

"Warm weather, Kai," He said and walked off. She groaned, hating warm weather as her body temperature ran higher than most people's. 

"Don't like warm weather?" Steve asked, having finished reading the paper a few minutes before.

"Despise it." Was her only response.

 

A few hours later the team was packed and on a jet, flying to an undisclosed destination. 

"Any hint as to where it is we're going?" She tried to pry, but Tony didn't give a reply, "Wanda?"

"An island in the Caribbean." The young witch replied after a minute. 

"That's not fair!" Tony shouted, "It was supposed to be a surprise."

"Why are we even going on vacation?" Bucky asked gruffly, crossing his arms, "We have stuff we have to get done."

"Sounds like Cap is rubbing off on you," Sam said, gaining a glare from Bucky.

"We all need some time off, it'll be fine." 

 

After landing Kai immediately went to her room in the mansion they'd be staying in. She changed into lighter clothing, hoping to stay cool. She wore her bikini beneath the light cream fabric of the dress. Slits on the side of the dress nearly went up all the way to her hips. The neckline dropped to expose most of her sternum, the fabric at the top being held up by a drawstring around her neck and another tying in the middle of her back. Her sides were slightly exposed due to the front of the dress coming in at her stomach. 

When she finally exited the house and walked to the private beach, she found everyone was already there. Steve, Bucky, Wanda, and Sam were playing volleyball against Tony, Natasha, Vision, and Peter. Clint, Bruce, Rhodey, T'Challa, and Scott were hanging around a raging bonfire. 

Upon seeing the bonfire, her face paled. She thought about leaving and going back to her room, hiding there for the rest of the day. However, it was too late, the others had already noticed her and beckoned her over. So she reluctantly went, plastering a smile on her face. 

"Why's there a bonfire going when the sun's still out?" She questioned, only receiving a few shrugs. With a small sigh, Kai went to the cooler and pulled out a beer.

"Little early for drinking, don't you think?" Scott teased her slightly, but she said nothing as she nearly downed the entire drink. 

"Slow down there." She didn't pay attention to who the comment had come from, her guess was Clint, but she could care less. 

 

Much later in the day, the sun had already set and the fire cast dancing shadows across the sand. By this time, Kai was buzzed enough to forget her fears, but still knew to be cautious, so she sat further back than the rest.

"Come sit over here, for God's sake Kai, you'll be fine," Natasha said, grabbing her arm and pulling her closer. 

"How are you not cold?" Scott questioned, gesturing the flimsy dress she still wore. 

"Jesus Christ, you're burning up!" Natasha had shouted at the same time Scott spoke, after feeling her skin. 

"No, I'm fine," She uttered, pulling away when the next closest person, Peter, tried to feel her skin. She wasn't successful as his hand brushed her arm for a second.

"She's right, what do you have the super serum too or something?" Peter tried to joke, make light of the situation. She stayed quiet though, not wanting to speak of it. Her buzz wore off as everything was brought to the forefront of her mind. She hadn't noticed that Bruce had felt her forehead until she felt something cool press against it. It was Bucky's metal arm, and she immediately pushed him away from her.

"Kai, you need to get your temperature down." Bruce stated, hoping that it would persuade her into complying.

"I said I'm fine!" Kai stood suddenly, frustrated that no one would listen to her. She became afraid, unsure of what would happen since she hadn't even tried to use her powers in years. All eyes were on her as she stood there, trying to calm herself down.

"Okay, I'll leave it for now, but I do want to run some tests when we get back to the tower," Tony said, taking a sip of his beer. Everyone shot him a glare, warning him that he should shut up, he didn't listen, "Something's gotta be up with you for your body to run that hot." Outraged, Kai stared at him, feeling her body temperature rise. 

"What don't you get about, I'M FINE." As she shouted the last two words, the calm bonfire raged and grew in height, suddenly becoming hot enough to turn the sand to glass. The team scrambled away from the fire, but Kai didn't move from her place. 

"Kai, step away from the fire before you get burned, please." Steve gently coaxed, in hopes of not further angering her.

She looked to the fire and scoffed, too consumed by wrath to be fearful, "The fire will not hurt burn me, it is you who should worry of being burned." Her voice dripped with venom and she finally saw the teams faces, processed them. She mistook their looks of wonderment for horror and calmed down, stepping away from them as she stared at her hands. As she calmed the fire did as well, the dancing fire returning to a radiant glow. 

"I- 'm sorry." Her voice cracked as she spoke, terrified of what she had just done. Before anyone could utter a word, she was gone, running back to the mansion and straight to her room. 

 

The next morning, she was up before anyone else a feat she wasn't sure how she'd accomplished. She was standing on a paddleboard with the crystalline water below her. She always loved the water, perhaps because it was the exact opposite of everything she despised. Having tired of standing, she sat with her legs in the water, paddle resting on her lap. She couldn't bear facing the team, not so soon after last night. 

Her peace didn't last long as the super soldiers always rose early in the morning. In little time, they were by her side in the water, easily keeping themselves afloat. 

"So, do you care to explain what that was last night?" Steve asked though she ignored his questioned and looked at Bucky.

"Surely salt water can't be good for your arm, and how are you not sinking." She said, motioning to the man's bionic arm.

"It'll be fine. Answer the question." He clearly wasn't going to beat around the bush, but she'd try as long as she could.

"I'd rather not." She hummed, looking at the two soldiers.

"No need to be embarrassed if you are. If you haven't noticed we're an odd group of people." The brunet soldier started, wondering why his friend had reacted such a way the night before.

"I'm not embarrassed." She mumbled, fiddling with the paddle in her lap.

"Then what is it?" The other asked, watching as she shook her head, making her wet hair cling to her face. 

"I really don't want to fucking talk about it." 

"Language." The one with the metal arm said, attempting to lighten up the mood. It didn't work. 

"It's none of your business." 

"The fire got bigger when you got angry." She could feel her anger growing, mixed with the hatred of not being left alone.

"It was a coincidence." 

"No, it wasn't." Bucky placed his metal hand on her leg, trying to get her attention. Her attention was elsewhere, trying to calm herself down before there was a repeat. 

"You need to tell us what the hell that was." Steve had entered captain mode, his voice harsher and more demanding. It triggered something in her. 

"Just because you have the title captain, doesn't mean you're entitled to know everything about me." She hissed, her skin heating and the water surrounding her legs began to warm. The boys didn't take notice until the water began sizzling. 

"What the fuck?!" Bucky exclaimed, tearing his hand off her knee as even his prosthetic picked up the change in temperature. Both boys had to swim a bit away as she warmed the immediate surrounding water. 

"What the hell is going on?! Answer right now, that's an order agent!" Steve yelled. She said nothing, standing on the board and diving deep into the water, where the water colder and would force her to cool down. She stayed under as long as her lungs would allow, swimming to the surface when she felt the burning sensation in her chest. before either of the soldiers could protest, she had taken another deep breath of air and dove back under the surface. She repeated this until she was completely cooled off.

"You want to explain now?" Bucky asked as she panted, pulling herself lazily back onto the board.

"Get everyone in the living room or something and I'll explain all at once." She gasped out, still trying to regain her breath.

"Fine." 

 

Ten minutes later, she stood on the patio with everyone else looking at her. 

"Before I start I need you guys to promise me not to freak out too much. If I get riled up, even though I'm usually good at being in control, my emotions still get the best of me," She paused everyone nodding in agreement, "Very well then. I suppose I should start at the beginning." She took a deep breath, "You all know that my parents died when I was young and I was adopted. But.. there's a lot more to it than just that.

When I was little, probably 5 or so, I found out I could create fire just by focusing. I didn't know it at the time, but I can make the molecules vibrate at higher speeds, starting a fire. But this also meant that I run at a hotter body temperature, my average is around 105, and when I get angry it rises. I also still lose control of my abilities every once and awhile. I haven't used them in so long, when I got angry last night I wasn't able to control them like I should have been. I let my feelings best me, again, only this time no one got hurt.

When I was 13, my parents, they were fighting again. It was common for them to do this. It was mostly because of me because they had different views on how to raise me. My dad wanted to help any way he could, my mom saw me as an abomination. She wanted to get rid of me. They usually fought when I was out, or out of earshot, this time they hadn't. I had heard every word my mother said about me, and it made me angry. She was my mother, why would she want to get rid of me? I wasn't able to control myself at all then, and I lost it. Everything caught on fire, nothing survived, but me. 

When the rescue crew arrived, the house was reduced to ash, my parents didn't make it. The firemen were so shocked to see that I had made it out, completely unharmed. The fire had been hot enough to melt every metal appliance, and a 13-year-old girl survived. That put me on S.H.I.E.L.D's radar of course, and they offered me somewhere I could train, live. I had nowhere else to go, nothing to lose, so I went with them. I was adopted by Agent Coulson, one of the agencies best-kept secrets, and trained. 

I became one of the best agents, even without using my abilities. That's why they put me on the team." She paused, taking in each of their reactions. Everyone sported a look of shock, Peter though looked absolutely intrigued. 

"Why haven't you used your power then, you must be an even better fighter with using them," T'Challa said, looking at her with a curious gaze.

"The uh, fire, left me with pyrophobia." She uttered,  rubbing the back of her neck.

"You're telling me you can control fire, but you're afraid of it?" Tony asked, "That's the stupidest thing I've heard." 

"Must I remind you how you reacted when you found out the Winter Soldier killed your parents? What did you go and do exactly?" She spat and he said nothing, "Exactly."

"I understand why you didn't say anything." Wanda said, "I'm sorry, I understand how it feels." She whispered the last sentence, lowering her gaze to the ground. 

Scott suddenly gasped, "Holy shit, fuck, the bonfire last night. Kai, that's why you sat so far, why you drank four beers within an hour. Oh god, we wouldn't have had one if we had known." He rambled, guilt washing over him.

"I wouldn't have allowed you to avoid doing something because of me." She said, "You guys were having fun, I was not going to ruin that." 

"How hot can you make a fire burn?" Peter asked, finally unable to contain himself, "How are you able to make the molecules vibrate?" He didn't leave any time to answer before asking the second question.

"I can reach temperatures that surpass that of the sun, from what I was told. And I don't know." She answered, feeling weird as she wasn't used to sharing so much.

"We'll help you with this fear, doll. You help us with our shit, we can help you with yours." Bucky finally spoke, a light smile playing on his lips. 

"Thank you," She whispered, finally feeling like she could be accepted somewhere.


End file.
